Alaskan Way Viaduct – West Seattle Blog…http://westseattleblog.com
West Seattle news, 24/7Sat, 10 Dec 2016 02:47:45 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1HIGHWAY 99 TUNNEL: More than 2/3 of the wayhttp://westseattleblog.com/2016/12/highway-99-tunnel-more-than-23-of-the-way/
http://westseattleblog.com/2016/12/highway-99-tunnel-more-than-23-of-the-way/#commentsFri, 09 Dec 2016 00:58:01 +0000http://westseattleblog.com/?p=867660While the Highway 99 tunneling machine hasn’t made much news lately, it’s continuing to dig steadily along, says WSDOT. Their latest twice-weekly update, published this afternoon, says it’s more than two-thirds of the way down the route – 6,337 of 9,270 feet. It’s already gone past the deepest point on the route and is starting to climb back toward the surface, currently in the zone beneath Belltown. The current estimated opening date remains early 2019, and as noted in this tweet, Viaduct demolition would follow over much of the rest of that year.

]]>http://westseattleblog.com/2016/12/highway-99-tunnel-more-than-23-of-the-way/feed/1VIDEO: Highway 99 tunneling machine passes 1-mile markhttp://westseattleblog.com/2016/11/video-highway-99-tunneling-machine-passes-1-mile-mark/
Thu, 03 Nov 2016 20:30:31 +0000http://westseattleblog.com/?p=863445The Highway 99 tunneling machine has passed the one-mile mark as of this morning, according to WSDOT. It’s also made a new video showing how the machine is steered along its designated path underground, considering there’s no GPS:

The machine is at its deepest point – around 200 feet underground – with just under 4,000 feet remaining on the route, which is shown on this map, along with the machine’s approximate current location. The most recent timeline says that absent any further major problems, the tunnel will open in 2019.

10:30 AM: If you’re headed out, avoid NB 99. A two-vehicle crash on the Alaskan Way Viaduct – one vehicle on its side – is blocking the road and already resulting in backups, as the webcam above shows.

10:50 AM: Metro just texted that the C Line and Routes 120/125 are routed off NB 99, and will be diverting onto 1st Avenue S. instead.

11:10 AM: Via scanner, it’s confirmed that traffic is getting through, one lane NB, but that still means slow going.

11:59 AM UPDATE: Thanks for the photo, taken from Pike Place Market by an anonymous reader who says pieces of railing/siding fell away – which is why SDOT is still working at the scene, and one lane remains closed in each direction. No major injuries reported, by the way.

12:48 PM: Metro just texted to say the buses that use the NB Viaduct are all back on their regular routes.

2:38 PM: SDOT says the NB lanes are all open now; the left SB lane remains closed.

5 PM: Sorry, we had that backward; SDOT was working in the left NB lane – and still is, per this tweet a few minutes ago – while the SB lanes have all reopened.

]]>http://westseattleblog.com/2016/11/traffic-alert-crash-blocking-nb-99-2/feed/6VIADUCT INSPECTION OVER: Early reopening; no Sunday closurehttp://westseattleblog.com/2016/10/viaduct-inspection-over-early-reopening-no-sunday-closure/
http://westseattleblog.com/2016/10/viaduct-inspection-over-early-reopening-no-sunday-closure/#commentsSun, 09 Oct 2016 00:12:38 +0000http://westseattleblog.com/?p=860373WSDOT just announced that – as often happens – the Alaskan Way Viaduct inspection has ended early. So Highway 99 is back to being fully open (as of 5 pm), AND no closure Sunday.

]]>http://westseattleblog.com/2016/10/viaduct-inspection-over-early-reopening-no-sunday-closure/feed/2HIGHWAY 99 TUNNEL: 3rd maintenance stop of the yearhttp://westseattleblog.com/2016/10/highway-99-tunnel-3rd-maintenance-stop-of-the-year/
http://westseattleblog.com/2016/10/highway-99-tunnel-3rd-maintenance-stop-of-the-year/#commentsThu, 06 Oct 2016 22:27:55 +0000http://westseattleblog.com/?p=860137While the Alaskan Way Viaduct is closed this weekend for its twice-yearly inspection, the machine digging its replacement will be taking a break for inspection too. WSDOT announced this afternoon that the Highway 99 tunneling machine has made its third maintenance stop of the year and will likely be stopped for about a month.

It’s currently stopped about 190 feet under First Avenue, north of Pike Street, and has now gone 4,721 feet, more than half the 9,270-foot tunnel route. You can read WSDOT’s update in full here; in short, crews will be inspecting and changing some of the machine’s 700+ cutting tools. This year’s two previous maintenance stops were March 12-April 29, just before the machine went under the Viaduct, and June 23-July 18. The newest schedule revision says the tunnel will open in early 2019.

P.S. Above ground, the Viaduct inspection closure is scheduled for 6 am-6 pm Saturday and Sunday. These often end early, and we’ll let you know if/when this one does.

]]>http://westseattleblog.com/2016/10/highway-99-tunnel-3rd-maintenance-stop-of-the-year/feed/2Alaskan Way Viaduct closure next weekend: Another reminderhttp://westseattleblog.com/2016/10/alaskan-way-viaduct-closure-next-weekend-another-reminder/
Sun, 02 Oct 2016 17:03:58 +0000http://westseattleblog.com/?p=859738WSDOT‘s big alert announcement is expected tomorrow, but in the meantime, we brought you early warning September 22nd that next weekend (Saturday-Sunday, October 8-9) will bring the next twice-yearly inspection/maintenance closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, and we’re reminding you again today. This is scheduled once again as a shutdown 6 am-6 pm each day, but recent closures have tended to end early.

Also note, next Saturday’s closure will include a stretch north of the Battery Street Tunnel, between Denny Way and Valley Street, 6 am-3 pm, with Valley remaining open for detours.

P.S. We also expect to hear tomorrow if the Highway 99 tunneling machine has passed the halfway point along its 9,270-foot route – WSDOT updates this page on Mondays and Thursdays, and as of three days ago, it was less than 100 feet from that milestone.

]]>ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT CLOSURE: Next one set for October 8-9http://westseattleblog.com/2016/09/viaduct-closure-next-one-set-for-october-8-9/
http://westseattleblog.com/2016/09/viaduct-closure-next-one-set-for-october-8-9/#commentsThu, 22 Sep 2016 22:26:37 +0000http://westseattleblog.com/?p=858526ORIGINAL SEPTEMBER 22ND REPORT: Another road-closure alert: The weekly “lookahead” published today by SDOT includes the news that the next twice-yearly inspection/maintenance closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct is set for the weekend of October 8-9, 6 am-6 pm each day. The most recent shutdowns have lasted just one day, with the second “reserve” day going unused; we’ll be checking with WSDOT to see what they can tell us in advance.

WSDOT announced this afternoon that the Highway 99 tunneling machine is back on the move after a two-week stop to change cutterhead tools. Above is a photo of a used “tooth,” taken by Vlad Oustimovitch, a West Seattle resident who is a longtime member of the citizens’ advisory group and shared photos with WSB after a tour of the machine toward the start of the stopdown. Today’s WSDOT update says that as of lunchtime, “crews were tunneling north approximately 170 feet below First Avenue, just north of Union Street” and that the contractor “replaced a total of 14 large cutting tools during the two-week maintenance period. Bertha has moved from clay to a mixture of sand and gravel that wears down cutting tools more quickly. … The tools STP changed during this maintenance stop are the first parts of the cutterhead that contact the ground, making them crucial to the machine’s ability to excavate soil. STP will continue to inspect and replace these tools as needed during the course of mining. … The machine has tunneled more than 4,135 feet and is nearing the halfway point of its 9,270-foot-long journey.”

ORIGINAL REPORT, 4:26 PM: Since its last maintenance stop ended in mid-July, the Highway 99 tunneling machine has dug 1,000 feet. Another 500, and it will be at the official halfway mark. But right now, WSDOT says, the machine is stopped down “to inspect and replace some of the larger cutterhead tools on the front end … STP chose to check the tools – and change them as needed – because Bertha has moved from clay into a mixture of sand and gravel that will more quickly wear them down. Replacing the tools now will preserve the machine and ensure it continues to function well as it mines toward STP’s next planned maintenance stop.” You can read the full update here, and you can go here to see where the machine is now – that’s also the page that tracks its progress, currently listed as 4,135 feet along the planned 9,270-foot tunneling route.

ADDED 9:36 PM: A West Seattleite who has long represented our area on Viaduct/Tunnel advisory groups, Vlad Oustimovitch, is sharing photos tonight from a tunnel-project tour earlier today. First photo shows a used drilling tooth that was replaced today, as part of the work mentioned above:

Next, you’re looking at “giant rollers” that hold up the tunnel-building part of the machine:

Here are the pistons that push the machine forward once rings are in place:

Another view from inside the tunneling machine:

Here’s the control room:

And “the tail end” of the machine:

Back outside the machine, in the already-built 4,135 feet of tunnel, here’s a look at the upper deck:

(WSDOT video from last week, showing road-building in the tunnel section dug so far)

Just announced by WSDOT– the Highway 99 tunneling machine is back in action after “a month of routine and hyperbaric maintenance” that started June 23rd and ended yesterday. WSDOT says, “The maintenance period included more than 40 shifts of work under hyperbaric conditions, changing cutting tools and performing other maintenance in the space behind the cutterhead.” The tunneling machine is one-third of the way – 3,108 feet – along the route, now “located approximately 120 feet beneath Spring Street, tunneling north toward First Avenue.” Two more stops like this are expected, WSDOT says.

]]>TRAFFIC ALERT: Crash on southbound Alaskan Way Viaducthttp://westseattleblog.com/2016/06/traffic-alert-crash-on-southbound-alaskan-way-viaduct-2/
http://westseattleblog.com/2016/06/traffic-alert-crash-on-southbound-alaskan-way-viaduct-2/#commentsWed, 22 Jun 2016 00:37:38 +0000http://westseattleblog.com/?p=8483695:37 PM: If you’re headed this way, you might want to avoid southbound 99, or wait a while. Texter alerts us to a crash that’s confirmed by SDOT, blocking the left lane of SB 99 in the stadium zone. We’ll update when we hear it’s clear.

It’s a question still asked fairly often – when the Alaskan Way Viaduct is gone and the tunnel is open, how will you get to downtown from northbound Highway 99? WSDOT has just announced it’s chosen the builder for the ramp that answers the question:

Construction will soon begin on a new flyover off-ramp designed to connect the northbound lanes of State Route 99 to Seattle’s stadiums, Pioneer Square, and downtown Seattle.

The Washington State Department of Transportation awarded the $3.5 million contract to Interwest Construction, Inc. of Sequim to build the ramp to South Dearborn Street that will allow northbound traffic to exit in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood when the new SR 99 tunnel opens.

“The flyover ramp is an important piece of the larger Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program,” said David Sowers, deputy program administrator for the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program. “And drivers should not worry about construction delays, as the ramp will be built in the existing SR 99 work zone near the stadiums.”

WSDOT and Interwest expect to sign a contract giving notice to proceed later this month. Construction activities are expected to start in July and last approximately six months. The new off-ramp will open to motorists at the same time as the new SR 99 tunnel, currently scheduled for 2018.

The latest tunneling-progress report, by the way, is here; as of last Thursday, 2,886 feet tunneled, about 200 feet shy of a third of the 9,270-foot distance.

5:27 AM: Reminder – northbound Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct is now closed from here to the Battery Street Tunnel for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon/Half Marathon. The official alert notes that the event could last as long as 3 pm, but the marathon’s own road-closure grid page says the 99 closure could end by late morning, so we’ll keep an eye on advisories and webcams like the one above (you can also use the city’s Travelers Information Map to check live video of the course on the Viaduct at Western – use the “downtown” section of the video camera list on the lower right area of the map page).

10:17 AM: Highway 99/AWV is open again – as verified by the aforementioned cameras. Other marathon-related road closures might still be in effect – see the “grid page” link above for potentially affected areas.

]]>http://westseattleblog.com/2016/06/traffic-alert-northbound-alaskan-way-viaduct-closed-for-marathon/feed/4TUNNEL UPDATE: One-fifth of the way therehttp://westseattleblog.com/2016/05/tunnel-update-one-fifth-of-the-way/
http://westseattleblog.com/2016/05/tunnel-update-one-fifth-of-the-way/#commentsWed, 18 May 2016 21:33:30 +0000http://westseattleblog.com/?p=844451
In the middle of the second week post-Viaduct closure, an update on the Highway 99 tunneling machine: After a “break for rest and routine maintenance,” WSDOT says this afternoon, “Seattle Tunnel Partners resumed mining late Tuesday evening.” The machine has now gone more than 2,000 feet in all, which is more than 20 percent of the way along the full tunnel route, shown in the WSDOT-created graphic above. It also shows the machine in Zone 2, which will take it under the Columbia onramp; as explained during the closure, when we asked WSDOT on behalf of a reader, the machine is much further beneath that structure, so a precautionary closure was NOT considered necessary. WSDOT says that from there, the machine will travel under Western Avenue, and they promise twice-weekly updates here.